Page 11 - Mid Valley Times 3-19-20 E-edition

Immanuel wins CSL baseball opener
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Spring sports suspended
at Dinuba, Orosi High
By George M. Villagrana
Mid Valley Times
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Dinuba High school sus- pended its spring sports until after the spring break, according to athlet- ic director John Freitas.
The decision was made Friday on the heels of superintendent Dr. Joe Hernandez’s announce- ment in a board meeting Thursday that all immedi- ate school events be can- celed until further notice. On Sunday, the district announced closing all the schools and will reopen on April 14.
In an email sent to the Times, Freitas wrote, “we are still able to practice at this time but we must keep everyone’s health & safety as a top priority. We should not oversell this is- sue to our student-athletes because we are hopeful that the precautionary measures we are taking will limit its impact. We cannot undersell this is- sue either because of the
SeeSPRINGonpage B10
Campaign in peril
with school closures,
suspension of athletics
MVT Staff Report
If the Central Sequoia League baseball season is able to resume later this spring, the Imman- uel High Eagles will be in an advantageous po- sition with a shortened schedule.
The Eagles (5-3 overall) were victori- ous in their CSL opener on March 11, pulling out a 6-4 victory under the lights at Kingsburg High. The game had been postponed a day prior because of the first rain the region had received since January.
But that pales to the delay the team now will undergo. The rapid spread of reported coro- nvirus (COVID-19) cas- es in the United States — just picking up in California — resulted in league and region umpires going off work and caused a suspension of baseball and softball. That quickly escalated
to all athletic events, and the eventual closing of schools in the Valley this week.
Ryan Friesen im- proved to 2-0 by pitch- ing four innings, yielding three earned runs while striking out seven and scattering six hits. Matt Tiger picked up the save. Tiger also paced the Im- manuel hitting attack go- ing 2-for-3 with an RBI. Colton Vogt went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Trace Pires and Andrew Brown also drove in runs.
•••
The COVID-19 out- break and subsequent social separation de- railed what had been an impressive start of the baseball season for Reedley High School. The Pirates had com- piled an 8-1 record and seven-game win streak, capped by the Central Valley Diamond Classic championship, before the interruption of play canceled home games
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Senior Matt Tiger, pictured earlier in the season, picked up the save and collected two hits in Immanuel High’s 6-4 victory over Kingsburg High on March 11. It was the Eagles’ Central Sequoia League opener, and final game before the season was suspended as a precaution in response to the spreading COVID-19 virus.
Reedley, Sanger get in final meet action before cancellation of track and field
with Orange Cove High (March 13) and Fire- baugh High (March 17).
As of March 16, all spring sports involving RHS were postponed
at least until Tuesday, April 14. That meant the Pirates’ North Yosemite League opener on Tues- day, March 31 at Fresno — and a rematch with
the Warriors three days later is postponed if not completely canceled. Al- so canceled is the Fresno Easter Classic on April 6-8.
MVT Staff Report
The track and field season came to a halt af- ter a March 11 competi- tion for the Reedley High and Sanger High teams because of the coronavi- rus threat.
The Pirates and Coun- ty Metro Athletic Asso- ciation member Apaches participated along with Fresno High, Hoover High and McLane in the North Yosemite League Meet #2 at Reedley High’s Sal Gonzalez Field and track on March 11. But just a day later, the ex- panding threat of the vi- rus caused the cancella- tion of the Reedley Rotary Meet that evening at RHS. The annual event draws top elementary and mid- dle school athletes from the Kings Canyon Unified School District along with Immanuel Schools.
By the weekend, ath- letic activities throughout the Central Section had been shut down. It’s like- ly that athletic events will remain idled through the end of April. Most Central Valley schools closed this week for a minimum of three weeks, with many
not scheduled to reopen until at least April 13 or April 14.
At the NYL Meet #2, Sanger had 11 first place finishes in varsity while Reedley athletes won seven varsity events.
The lone multiple win- ner among the teams was Lady Pirates’ Trinity Toews. The senior swept the 100 and 200 meter sprints in season-best times of 13.27 and 27.54 seconds, and also an- chored RHS’ 4x400 relay team featuring Kayden Crutchfield, Viktoria Papp and Paola Rangel. That winning time was 4 minutes, 21.44 seconds.
Reedley’s other first place varsity finishers were sophomore Crutch- field (a PR of 52.55 sec- onds in the 300 hurdles), senior Isabella Elizondo (30-6 in the triple jump, Eric Aguilar (10:57.56 in the boys 3,200), Cesar Guzman (18:51 in the 110 hurdles).
Sanger won six in- dividual varsity events in boys and five in girls, with the girls 4x100 relay
See TRACK on page B10
Sanger High sports on hold amid pandemic precautions
MVT Staff Report
The Sanger High track and field team was able to compete in a track meet held at Reedley High on March 11 (see story, left) in what may have been the Apache athletic program’s final com- petition until mid April, if not the remainder of the school year.
Due to an abundance of caution by the Sanger Unified School District, all events in the district, including athletic competitions, drama performances and extra curricular activities were sus- pended late last week, tentatively until the week of April 13. This action was made prior to the district’s decision to close all schools on March 13.
The Apaches’ baseball team was scheduled to take on Edison on March 13 in a league opener. Their last game was a 4-1 loss to Fowler in the Central Valley Diamond Classic on March 7, drop- ping the varsity team’s record to 4-4.
Photos by Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times